Last Minute January Opportunities

Undergraduate Bursaries Available for Asylum Seekers, Dependents & People with DLR [info]

- Support for undergraduate study at various universities in the UK; apply by 15 January 2012.

Job vacancy: Part-time Managing Editor, Refuge: Canada’s Periodical on Refugees, Toronto, Canada [info]
- Start date 1 February 2012; apply by 16 January 2012.

Job vacancy: Director, Fahamu Refugee Programme, Oxford, UK [info]
- Start date: ASAP; deadline for applications is 20 January 2012; early application is encouraged.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

Danish Presidency of the EU

Denmark took over the EU Presidency at the start of the new year. One of its goals is to "finalise the Common European Asylum System by the end of 2012." (For more, see "Asylum and Migration," pp. 42-44.)

Additional information on existing EU approaches to asylum and migration is available in the Justice and Home Affairs section of the Danish Presidency web site.

Recommendations on specific aspects of the EU's asylum policy have been published by both ECRE and UNHCR.

The latter's recommendations begin by referencing the recent Declaration on the 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, in which the EU "reaffirms its commitment to this unique instrument as the foundation of the international regime for the protection of refugees," "recalls its commitment to the development of a common policy on asylum based on the full and inclusive application of the 1951 Convention, and reaffirms its attachment to the absolute respect of the right to asylum," and "reiterates its commitment to further developing the Common European Asylum System based on high protection standards combined with fair and effective procedures."

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Focus on Access to Justice

In Canada, the Ottawa Citizen published a series of reports on "the wide variability in the way Federal Court of Canada judges rule on cases involving immigrants and refugees." Here are the articles:

Part 1: "Tough on Refugees: Are Non-Canadians Getting a Fair Shake from our Federal Judges?" (Nov. 2011) [text]

Part 2: "Federal Court Judges Do Their Best to Tet It Right, Ex-Chief Justice Says" (Nov. 2011) [text]

Part 3: "Despite Independence, Can Judges Ignore Their Own Ideologies?" (Nov. 2011) [text]

Part 4: "Chill of Ministerial Comments Erodes Independence of Immigration and Refugee Board, Former Chair Says" (Nov. 2011) [text]

Comment on series: "Access to Justice Should Not Look Like a Lottery," Ottawa Citizen (29 Nov. 2011) [text]

A live chat between the series' reporter, Don Butler, and Sean Rehaag, a professor at York University's Osgoode Law School, wrapped up the series.

On the U.S. side, immigration lawyers received their share of criticism in a report entitled "Accessing Justice: The Availability and Adequacy of Counsel in Immigration Proceedings," published by the Cardozo Law Review. This New York Times article summarizes the findings: "In a Study, Judges Express a Bleak View of Lawyers Representing Immigrants."

The Asylumist blog posted two comments on "The Problem with Immigration Lawyers and How to Fix It": Part 1: Immigration Judges (Jan. 2012); Part 2: Bar Associations (Jan. 2012).

[Photo credit: "Justice," Wikipedia]

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of Fahamu Refugee News, HHR Journal, Humanity, IMR, Refugee Watch

Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 22 (Jan. 2012) [full-text] [blog]

- Lead article is "Providing open access to legal literature" (from yours truly); others include "Assessment of United Kingdom Border Agency’s Operational Guidance Notes" and "Report of meeting granted by UNHCR officials to delegation of Rwandan refugee organisations."

Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, vol. 13, no. 2 (2011) [open access]
- Mix of articles, including "International law, national policymaking, and the health of trafficked people in the UK."

Humanity, vol. 2, no. 2 (2011) [selected full-text]

- Special dossier on gender and humanitarian issues. Includes a photo essay on stateless people and a commentary on the photos.

International Migration Review, vol. 45, no. 4 (Winter 2011) [contents]

- Mix of articles.

Refugee Watch Online (Dec. 2011) [full-text]

- Includes articles on refugees in Nepal and Bhutanese refugees.

Tagged Periodicals.

Focus on Health Issues

Family Planning in Malakal, South Sudan: Results of a Community-based Pilot Project (American Refugee Committee, Women's Refugee Commission & Centers for Disease Control, Dec. 2011) [text]

Refocusing Family Planning in Refugee Settings: Findings and Recommendations from a Multi-­‐Country Baseline Study (UNHCR & Women's Refugee Commission, Nov. 2011) [text]

- Note: Baseline studies conducted for this report are available via the Women's Refugee Commission's "reproductive health" section. Countries included Djibouti, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia and Uganda.

Towards Improving Forced Migrant Access to Health and Psychosocial Rights in Urban South Africa: A Focus on Johannesburg, Migration Issue Brief, no. 8 (African Centre for Migration & Society, Nov. 2011) [text]

UNHCR Operational Guidance on the Use of Special Nutritional Products to Reduce Micronutrient Deficiencies and Malnutrition in Refugee Populations (UNHCR, 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

UNHCR's Essential Medicines and Medical Supplies: Policy and Guidance 2011 (UNHCR, Dec. 2011) [text]

- Note: "It is anticipated that UNHCR’s Essential Medicines and Medical Supplies Policy and Guidance will remain valid until 2020, with exception of the essential medicines and medical supplies lists that will be updated biennially, with the first update in 2013." A companion to this policy, "Practical Manual on Medicine Management," will be issued soon.

Tagged Publications.

Focus on Palestinians: Events, UNRWA Publications

Events:

Palestinian Refugees, Cairo, 12-16 February 2012 [info]

- Winter short course offered by the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, AUC; apply by 10 January 2012.

Palestine Refugees and International Law, Oxford, 10-11 March 2012 [info]

- Weekend workshop offered by the Refugee Studies Centre. Limited to 25 places.

Publications:

Labour Market in the Gaza Strip: Briefing on First-half 2011 (UNRWA, Dec. 2011) [text]

Labour Market in the West Bank: Briefing on First-half 2011 (UNRWA, Dec. 2011) [text]

Palestine Refugees in the West Bank: Socio-economic Trends and Long-term Opportunities (UNRWA, April 2011) [text]

Socio-Economic Developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory 2010 (UNRWA, 2011) [text]

UNRWA Statistics 2010 (UNRWA, 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

New Work-related Items

A new paper entitled "The Right to Work of Claimants for International Protection: A Legal Toolbox" was posted on the Right to Work for Asylum Seekers and Refugees Blog. Its aim is to "increase awareness and facilitate applicability of the right to work of claimants for international protection at domestic or regional levels by detailing the relevance of international and regional norms and standards for claimants for international protection."

Other recent items that focus on issues relating to employment and/or livelihoods include:

The Employment Rights of Refugees in Africa under the 1969 African Refugee Convention (Refugees and the Right to Work, Dec. 2011) [text]

Making Our Way: Resettled Refugee and Asylee Youth in New York City (Women's Refugee Commission, Dec. 2011) [text]

Participation and Employment: A Survey of Newly Arrived Migrants and Refugees in Melbourne (AMES, 2011) [text via BroCAP]

Preventing Gender-Based Violence, Building Livelihoods: Guidance and Tools for Improved Programming (Women's Refugee Commission, Dec. 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

UNHCR Statistical Yearbook

Figures for UNHCR's populations of concern during 2010 are now available in the latest Statistical Yearbook: Trends in Displacement, Protection and Solutions. This 10th edition presents 10 years of statistics. Here's a description of its coverage:

The scope of the 2010 Yearbook remains unchanged from previous years. Since the introduction in 2006 of special features on specific topics within regions, the Yearbook has aimed to provide more analytical information designed to facilitate decision- making. In addition to reviewing global statistical trends and shifts in the populations of concern to UNHCR between January and December 2010, the Yearbook provides a number of case studies that examine issues such as health or IDP profiling.

Some key findings for 2010 include:

• total population of concern to UNHCR = 33.9 million
• total refugee population = 10.55 million
• total IDP population protected/assisted by UNHCR = 14.7 million
• developing countries hosted 80% of the refugee population, with over half in Asia
• the main receiving countries were Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Germany, Jordan and Kenya
• the main refugee-producing countries were Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, DRC and Myanmar
• stateless people were identified in 65 countries
• asylum applications submitted to governments and UNHCR decreased 10%, from 948,400 to 850,200 this year
• South Africa, the US, France, Germany, Sweden, Ecuador and Malaysia received the most asylum applications
• the main countries of origin for asylum-seekers were Zimbabwe, Somalia, DRC, Afghanistan, Colombia, Serbia (and Kosovo) and Myanmar

Previous editions can be accessed here.

Tagged Publications.

Focus on LGBTI

2011 Round-up, Part Six: Asylum and Refugees (LGBT Asylum News, Dec. 2011) [text]

Gender Outlaws between Earth and Sky: Iranian Transgender Asylum Seekers Trapped within (Inter)National Heteronormative Frameworks, Thesis submitted to the Dept. of Gender Studies (Central European Univ., Feb. 2011) [text]

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity [access]
- New "Special Feature" page on Refworld.

Week of UNHCR Commemoration Meeting Provides Important Milestone in Protection of LGBTI Refugees (Human Rights First Blog, Dec. 2011) [text]

"Who Am I and Who Do You Want Me to Be? Effectively Defining a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Social Group in Asylum Applications," Chicago-Kent Law Review, vol. 86, no. 3 (2011) [info]

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

More Books to Read...

I ended 2011 with a few book recommendations (see here and here). And I'll begin 2012 with a few more:

First, a reader recommended this title in the comments section of the blog:

Lamey, Andy. Frontier Justice: The Global Refugee Crisis and What to Do About It (Doubleday Canada, 2011) [publisher info] [Facebook page]
- This book was written "to counter some of the misconceptions about refugees that commonly appear in the media. It draws on interviews with prominent members of the refugee NGO community and proposes a new framework of refugee rights. The book examines contemporary refugee controversies in Europe, North America and Australia, with an extensive discussion of refugee issues in Canada."

And second, this time on the subject of climate change, the latest issue of the European Journal of International Law has a review of Jane McAdam's Climate Change and Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Hart Publishing, 2010). And I was given Gregory White's Climate Change and Migration: Security and Borders in a Warming World (OUP, 2011) as a gift, although I haven't read it yet!

Tagged Publications.

Focus on Central Europe(ans)

UNHCR's Central Europe office has published its Participatory Assessment Report for 2010: Being a Refugee: How Refugees and Asylum-seekers Experience Life in Central Europe. This annual report "gives a summary of the situation for asylum-seekers, refugees and people with subsidiary protection in the region... ." Earlier reports can be viewed here under AGDM Reports.

Other recent items that focus on individual countries in, or refugee groups from, the region include:

Access to Protection Jeopardised: Information Note on the Treatment of Dublin Returnees in Hungary (Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Dec. 2011) [text]

Arbitrariness regarding Access to the Asylum Procedure in Bulgaria (Legal Clinic for Refugees and Immigrants, Jan. 2012) [text]

Hungary, Canada and the Roma, Toronto, Dec. 2011 [access]
- Video of seminar that examined "the impact of 20 years of democracy on the Roma communities in Hungary, and why this changing context has caused many Roma to flee Hungary for Canada."

"Why are Hungarian Roma Seeking Asylum in Canada?", Embassy Magazine (Dec. 2011) [text]
- See related comment on The Asylumist.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Admin: Winter Break

This blog will be quiet until the new year. Until then, happy holidays!

New Issues of AWR, Food Nutrition, JIRS, Resettlement, Monday Dev.

AWR Bulletin, vol. 49, no. 3 (2011) [contents]

- Mix of articles, including "Migration Trends in Europe."

Food Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 32, no. 3 (Sept. 2011) [contents]
- Special section on "Assessing the impact of micronutrient interventions under special circumstances such as refugee camps and emergency operations."

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, vol. 9, no. 4 (2011) [contents]

- Mix of articles, including "Temporary Citizens: U.S. Immigration Law and Liberian Refugees," "Changing Images of Refugees: A Comparative Analysis of Australian and New Zealand Print Media 1998−2008," "English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL): Improving English Language Acquisition for Preliterate and Nonliterate Adult African Refugees," and "Between 'Voluntary Migrants' and War Refugees: The Health of the Shan Burmese Migrant Workers in Northern Thailand."

Linking-in EU Resettlement, no. 1 (Nov. 2011) [full-text]
- Newsletter of a joint IOM, UNHCR, ICMC project.

Monday Developments, no. 29 (Dec. 2011) [info]
- The theme is "2011: The Year in Relief & Development."

Tagged Periodicals.

Working Papers

Displacement in Post-War Southern Sudan: Survival and Accumulation within Urban Perimeters, Research Working Paper, no. 57 (MICROCON, Nov. 2011) [text]

Forced Migration, Female Labour Force Participation, and Intra-household Bargaining: Does Conflict Empower Women?, Research Working Paper, no. 56 (MICROCON, Nov. 2011) [text]

The 'Next Generation' Visa: Belt and Braces or the Emperor’s New Clothes?, CEPS Paper on Liberty and Security in Europe (Centre for European Policy Studies, Oct. 2011) [text]

Precarious Housing and Hidden Homelessness among Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Immigrants in the Toronto Metropolitan Area, Working Paper, no. 87 (CERIS, Dec. 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Climate/Environmental Displacement

Publications:

"Climate Refugees": Legal and Policy Responses to Environmentally Induced Migration (European Parliament, Dec. 2011) [text]

Gérer les déplacements des populations dus aux phénomènes climatiques extrêmes (Exil Climatique, avril 2011) [text]

Preparation for Climate Displacement Too Slow, Experts Say (AlertNet, Dec. 2011) [text]

"Toward a New Definition of 'Refugee': Is the 1951 Convention Out of Date?", European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, vol. 37, no. 1 (2011) [full-text]

Upcoming events:

RSC Seminar Series: Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement, Oxford, 18 January-7 March 2012 [info]

- The first two seminars in January will address "Environmental Displacement: future scenarios and modes of protection re-examined" and "Environmental Displacement and the Challenge of Rights Protection," respectively.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Holiday Reading...

Recommendations from Jeff Crisp:

The Accidental City: Violence, Economy and Humanitarianism in Kakuma Refugee Camp Kenya, Dissertation submitted to Disaster Studies (Wageningen University, 2011) [info]
- "My book of the year award goes to Bram Jansen's 'The Accidental City: Violence, Economy and Humanitarianism in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya'. While much has been written about Kakuma, this is by far the most fascinating, informative and readable account of life in the camp, illuminating a wide range of policy and operational issues that are of direct interest to the refugee studies and humanitarian communities." (Note: Happily, the full-text will become available via the a/m link in April 2012!)

"The Ethiopian Refugees in Kenya," Journal of the Royal African Society, vol. 38, no. 152 (July 1939) [info]
- "Insecurity, epidemics, environmental degradation, blockages in the food pipeline... . Just a few of the problems that have arisen in recent months in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp. But there is nothing new about these issues. This fascinating article, published in the Journal of the Royal African Society in 1939, examines the humanitarian response to an influx of Ethiopian refugees in Kenya, back in the days when the territory was still a British colony." (Note: This journal is available via these libraries.)

Tagged Publications.

New Book on Julia Taft

This new title was recommended to me, so I wanted to pass it along:

Off to Save the World: How Julia Taft Made a Difference, by Ann Blackman (Maine Authors Publishing, 2011)
- "The biography of an eminent humanitarian administrator, focusing on her experiences in countries such as Sudan, Armenia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan."

For more information, read this blog post on WorldBridge by the author, and visit the companion web site.

Any other recommendations for the winter holidays?

Tagged Publications.

New Publications on Detention, Employment Rights, Integration, Migrant Smuggling, Statelessness

The Employment Rights of Refugees in Africa under the 1969 African Refugee Convention (Refugees and the Right to Work, Dec. 2011) [text]
- Note: The author of this post, Marina Sharpe, recently wrote a New Issues in Refugee Research working paper entitled "Engaging with Refugee Protection? The Organization of African Unity and African Union since 1963."

From Deprivation to Liberty: Alternatives to Detention in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom (JRS Europe, Dec. 2011) [text]

Mapping Statelessness in the Netherlands (UNHCR, Nov. 2011) [text]

Polishing Treadmills at Midnight: Is Refugee Integration an Elusive Goal?, Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum, vol. 1, no. 1, art. 9 [full-text]

Smuggling of Migrants by Sea (UNODC, Dec. 2011) [text via Migrants at Sea]


Tagged Publications.

January Events & Opportunities

Winter Short Courses, Cairo, 29 January-18 February 2012 [info]
- Courses offered include: 1) Demographics Measures of Migration (January 29- February 2, 2012); 2) Migration and Refugee Movements in the Middle East and North Africa (February 5-9, 2012); 3) Palestinian Refugees (February 12-16, 2012); and 4) Training Skills for Trainers of Psychosocial and Mental Health Workers in Countries Affected by Emergencies (February 18-23, 2012). Apply by 10 January 2012.

Teaching Fellowship, U.C. Hastings Refugee and Human Rights Clinic, San Francisco [info]
- Two-year fellowship, 2012-214; apply by 15 January 2012.

CFP: Righting Wrongs Journal [info]
- For special issue on refugees and migration; submit paper by 16 January 2012.

Short Course: The International Protection of Refugees and Other Displaced Persons, London, Feb.-March 2012 [info]
- Deadline for submitting applications is now 24 January 2012.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

Recent Comments on Legal Decisions

Anniversary to Celebrate (UNHCR Malta, Dec. 2011) [text]
- Note re. Malta's Constitutional Court that found that two Somalis "had been denied their rights when they had been forcibly returned to Libya after arriving here in 2004."

Citizenship and the European Court on Human Rights: The Case of Genovese v. Malta (Statelessness Programme Blog, Dec. 2011) [text]

- Note re. a "case relating to gender discrimination in Maltese nationality law."

Court of Justice’s Judgment on the Exclusion Clauses: Hope for Ex-Khad/Wad Members in the Netherlands? (SSRN, Dec. 2011) [text]
- Analysis re. European Court of Justice's "interpretation of Article 12(2) of the Qualification Directive on the situation of ex-Khad members in the Netherlands on whom Article 1F of the Refugee Convention is applied."

"ECtHR Allows Extradition to Rwanda of Alleged Hutu Genocidaire with Refugee Status in Denmark; UNHCR does not Intervene," Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. (Dec. 2011) [text]
- Scroll to p. 10.

Eleventh Circuit on FGM, Senegal, Relocation: Seck v. Atty. Gen. (Immigration Law Community, Dec. 2011) [text via CRGS]
- "The Court vacated and remanded a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that denied asylum to a woman from Senegal."

French Roma Policy Violates European Social Charter (Strasbourg Observers, Dec. 2011) [text]
- Summary of European Committee of Social Rights decision.

"Trends and Inconsistencies in Immigration and Refugee Board Case Decisions," Poster at Western Migration Conference Series, London, Ontario, 28-30 April 2011 [access]
- "[I]llustrates the need for reform to correct current inconsistencies in the IRB decision-making process."

Tagged Publications.